Darkess Eternal
by ViolinsCry
Summary: An alternate storyline of the start of season one.


Night Mare Moon's malicious laugh filled the hall, dark clouds billowing around above her; bolts of lightning flashing over head.

"Seize her!" Cried the Mayor. "Only she knows where the Princess is!"

Three guards flew towards the dark pony quickly, but were knocked back by a blast of lightning cast by the dark mare.

"Stand back, you foals!" Another cruel laugh echoed through the room.

Night Mare Moon vanished into a thick stream of dark cloud, filled with stars which flew out of the hall. Rainbow Dash tried to follow but was stopped by Applejack gripping her tail with her teeth. The blue pegasus was too strong and ripped free of AJ's grip, sending the orange pony back to fall on her rump.

"Come back here!" Rainbow dashed out after Night Mare Moon, but was too slow. She stopped and hovered in mid air, panting. "Nighttime? Forever?"

They had failed.

The Elements of Harmony had been found, but Night Mare Moon was too strong; even after her thousand years of banishment. The six ponies lay exhausted on the ground, panting for breath as the dark pony's wicked laughter echoed in their ears.

"The night will last forever!" The dark mare reared on her hind legs, her form a silhouette against the full moon that was visible through the window behind her.

"No!" Twilight cried, raising her head from the ground slowly. "No this can't be!"

"You foals! You tried to defeat me, and you failed!" Magic swirled around Night Mare Moon, the colours from the elements of harmony becoming darker and darker.

Beams of light cut through the darkness, Night Mare Moon shielded herself with a wing as Princess Celestia teleported in between her, and the exhausted fillies. "Sister!" She cried out. "Stop this!"

"They're sisters?" Rarity gasped softly as the group struggled to their hooves.

Night Mare Moon looked at Celestia and laughed again. "You've had your time, sister." A wicked grin twisted her face. "Now it's _my_ time!"

The dark magic shot out towards Celestia, who tried to fight them off; her own bright magic shining from her horn. The two steams of power slammed together, the 6 fillies looking away from the brightness. Magic exploded, knocking everypony to the floor; the echoing sound of a desperate neigh filling their ears, which then faded away.

"She did it!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her eyes bright and wide as the bright magic dulled.

Neither the Princess, nor Night Mare Moon were anywhere to be seen. The six ponies searched the room for any sight, but none was to be found.

"Where are they?" Fluttershy asked, worry written all over her face.

"I... I don't know." Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "Princess Celestia? Are you here?"

There was no answer.

"Where in tarnation could she be?" Applejack wandered over to the window and looked out of it. "An' why is the moon still up?"

"Shouldn't the sun be up by now?" Fluttershy asked as she joined Applejack at the window.

"Oh no..." Rarity gasped. "You don't think..."

"That Night Mare Moon won?" Rainbow Dash finished Rarity's sentence, the six fillies now looking out at the moon.

"We have to get back to Ponyville!" Twilight exclaimed. "I'll get Spike to write to the Princess, then we'll know for sure."

"Spike! SPIKE!" Twilight burst through the door to the library in a flurry, followed by her friends.

The young dragon looked up from the meal of gems he'd set himself. "Twilight! Did you win? Is Night Mare Moon gone forever?"

"Spike, I need you to write a letter to the Princess! Now!" The purple unicorn replied. "Now!"

"Okay, okay!" Spike jumped to his feet and grabbed a pen and a scroll.

Twilight quickly recited a short note, asking Celestia where she was. Spike sent the message, which vanished in a puff of green smoke. "Now we wait."

They waited, and waited, and waited. Twilight paced back and forth, watching Spike and waiting for a return letter. "Come on, come on..."

Spike's cheeks puffed up, and he belched out a scroll which Twilight quickly grabbed with her magic. She opened it and read the contents, her eyes widening. "This is... the note -we- sent."

The scroll fell to the ground, and everypony gathered around. "So does that mean..." Rarity started slowly. "That she's gone?"

"An' it'll be night-time forever?" Applejack added, her brow furrowing.

"We can't let Night Mare Moon win!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "She's a meanie mean head!"

"What are we meant to do, Twilight? I- I mean, the Elements of Harmony failed..." Fluttershy asked softly.

"I don't know. I need some time to research this, see if there are any books that can help us."

Over a month had passed, and Equestria remained in permanent darkness for the whole time. Flowers never opened, and everypony's sleep pattern was ruined. Staying awake was near impossible with the constant darkness, and they all looked exhausted. Their coats were dulled as they trudged about Ponyville, attempting to do their chores. Ponies fell asleep at work, or in the streets; exhausted from the constant night time they were forced to endure.

Twilight was buried up to her flank in books, both her and Spike had been researching since the Summer Sun Celebration to no avail. So far, no books could help them.

"There has to be something." Twilight yawned for the thousandth time, rubbing her eyes. "It can't end like this..."

Spike's response was a soft snore, the baby dragon had fallen asleep again. Twilight Sparkle decided to leave him be; all this research was taking a toll on everyone.

"Twi!" Applejack knocked at her door. "Twi, you awake?!"

Twilight shook off the books before trotting to the door and opening it. "What's the problem AJ?"

The orange pony flailed. "The trees, Twi! The apple trees are all dyin'!"

"Most of the plants will die, AJ." Twilight sighed sadly. "They need the sun to survive."

"Sleep don't seem ta' be workin' either. I sleep, but I wake up an' it's dark still." The orange earth pony frowned, yawning softly.

"Everypony is feeling the same way, Applejack. We need sleep, but we need the day time as well." The unicorn replied. "Things are going to only get worse unless we can stop Night Mare Moon."

"But how?"

"I don't know, AJ. We don't even know where she is. Go and get the others, we need to stop her before it's too late." Twilight said.

"All the critters..." Fluttershy whimpered. "This darkness is making them sick."

"The constant night is affecting us all, the plants, the animals. Everything." Twilight hung her head and sighed. "We need to figure out where Night Mare Moon is hiding, and we must stop her."

"Well, if I was a big meanie pony like her, I'd take over the castle!" Pinkie burst out. "Because she wants to be in charge and stuff!"

"Pinkie, you're right." Twilight exclaimed. "Although, we still need to figure out how to defeat her."

"Could we try the Elements again?" Rarity asked, raising a hoof off the floor for a moment.

"It does seem the only way we can beat 'er." AJ nodded in agreement with the seamstress.

"They didn't work last time!" Rainbow Dash argued. "So, how are they going to work next time?"

"I don't know, Dash. We can't give up though, we have to try! If we give up, Equestria will die." Twilight replied.

"To Canterlot!" Pinkie pointed towards the door with a cheer.

The group leapt from the train once it pulled to a halt at the Canterlot station, the ponies here were faring no better than Ponyville. Several were sleeping on their feet at the station as the group of friends passed through it, careful to not wake them.

"Look!" Fluttershy stopped dead as the castle came into view.

Canterlot castle was shrouded in darkness, the starry deep blue clouds concealing it from sight. Pinkie let out a loud, dramatic gasp at the sight. "She has to be there!"

"Okay girls, let's go." Twilight started forwards. "Keep your eyes open, we don't know what's going on in there."

The ponies followed the purple unicorn through the streets, pausing when they got to the entrance to the castle. The gates were locked, a magical glow surrounding them. Applejack ran forwards before anyone could say anything, and turned at the last minute to kick at the gates. As her hooves connected, the magic sparked; sending the earth pony tumbling across the ground towards her friends.

"Applejack!" Rarity called as the orange pony slid to a halt.

"I'm okay." Applejack grunted and got to her feet. "What in the hay was that?"

"Night Mare Moon has locked the gates, I assume the magic she used repels physical contact." Twilight replied, eyeing the glowing gates.

Rainbow Dash flew up a few feet into the air. "Hah! Why bother when we can just carry you over!" She grinned before going to fly over the gates, much to the protest of her friends. The magic barrier sparked, sending the blue pegasus crashing to the ground.

"Rainbow!" The group cried out in unison, Twilight quickly using a large burst of magic to slow the pegasus' fall.

"Okay, so I may have rushed into that one." Rainbow shook herself once she was on her feet.

"It looks like we'll need to find another way inside." Twilight turned to look at the gates again.

They searched the outside of the castle grounds for a way in, the magic seemed to be blocking their entrance wherever they went. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy couldn't find an entrance from the skies as the clouds blocked their attempts.

"Twilight, try using your magic." Rarity suggested, motioning to the side gate they stood in front of.

Twilight Sparkle nodded and lowered her head, her horn pointing to the gate. She braced herself, her friends moving back a little as her horn began to glow. The spark grew in side, magic reaching out and colliding with the magic that guarded the castle gate. The two magics exploded in a flash of colour and light. Twilight strained harder to try and break the spell, the light emanating from her horn increasing in brilliance and size. Sweat rolled down her forehead, her body trembling with effort.

There was a huge explosion of magic and the six ponies were flung backwards, they crashed into a pile of pained groans.

"Did it work?" Applejack rubbed her head as the group untangled themselves. "That was some explosion."

"Look! LOOK! LOOOOK!" Pinkie bounced excitedly, pointing towards the gate. "It worked! Yay!"

The pink earth pony was right, Twilight's magic had dispelled a section of the forcefield style spell. The dark magic was writhing, slowly starting to mend the damage done to it by the purple unicorn's magic.

"Quick! Everypony through the gap before it closes!" Twilight called as she dashed forwards towards the closing hole.

They rushed forwards, each pony leaping through the closing gap as fast as they could. Rarity just made it in time, the magic closing behind her with an audible crackle.

"Woah Nelly, that was close!" Applejack took a closer look at the closed gap. "Although, it don't look like we can get out unless ya' do that spell again."

"It looks like we have no choice, but to go forwards." Twilight tilted her head to look up at the shrouded castle.

Fluttershy cowered behind her friends. "It looks so... scary."

"We can do this, Shy." Rainbow comforted her friend. "There are scarier things than Night Mare Moon in Equestria!"

Fluttershy's pupils dilated and she let out a horrified squeak.

"Come on everypony! Let's get going!" Pinkie bounced around them. "Let's go find that meanie-head!"

They stuck close together as they made their way through the once lush gardens, the plants withered and dying without sunlight. "This is awful." Fluttershy frowned sadly as they passed by the dying greenery.

"If we don't stop Night Mare Moon, Equestria will die. We'll starve!" Twilight kept a look out for anything that would stop them.

The doors to the castle were unlocked, allowed the six ponies to just walk inside. They were cautious, this now seemed too easy. Inside the castle, it was way too quiet; no guards were visible anywhere.

"Where is everypony?" Applejack whispered as they walked quietly through the hallways.

"I don't know." Rarity shrugged. "It's awful quiet."

As they rounded the corner to head into the Royal Chambers, their questions were answered. Guards lined the room, their once white armour now a dark blue. Night Mare Moon sat in Princess Celestia's throne.

Before they could plan anything, the dark alicorn was towering over them; amusement written all over her face. "So, you've come back to try again I see." She laughed mockingly.

Twilight stood her ground, pawing at the ground with a hoof. "We've come to stop you, Night Mare Moon."

She looked at the group, and laughed at them once again. "Foals! What exactly are the six of you going to do against all these guards, and me?"

Sadly, Night Mare Moon was right. Those guards were under her power, and the alicorn herself possessed a lot of power.

"You're killing Equestria!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, her ears flat back against her head.

"Preposterous!" The alicorn laughed. "Guards! Take care of them!"

She teleported back to the throne, as the guards surrounded the six ponies. Fighting back would be no use, they were outnumbered for starters; not to mention the guards were basically puppets right now.

The guards dragged them downstairs, to the dungeon that none of them even knew had existed. Each pony was shoved into a separate cell from each other, the guards leaving them alone once the doors were locked.

"Twilight!" Rarity complained loudly. "These cells are all filthy!"

"That ain't our real issue right now, sugar cube." Applejack paced in front of the bars. "We need to get the hay outta 'ere."

Fluttershy was cowering in the far corner, Rainbow Dash was trying to break the bars down unsuccessfully.

"Girls!" Twilight pressed her face close to the bars. "I can teleport home, and try to get some help. We can't do this alone."

"Who else can help us?" Rainbow Dash asked, kicking at the bars in frustration.

"We need the Princess." Fluttershy piped up from her corner.

"She's nowhere to be found though, Fluttershy. Night Mare Moon might have even banished her." Dash sighed.

"Either way, we need help for this. Either we find the Princess, or we need to get more ponies to help us." Twilight replied, twisting her mouth.

"Twi, jus' get goin' before the guards come back." AJ urged. "We'll be okay in 'ere, jus' get help."

The unicorn nodded and focused, a ball of light grew from the tip of her horn and grew. The light covered her, and vanished; Twilight Sparkle was gone.

"Please hurry, Twilight." Rarity paced back and forth in the cell. "Please."

"Spike!" Twilight called, wavering on her feet slightly; teleporting such distances always disoriented her. "Spike where are you?!"

"Here!" Spike ran downstairs. "Did you win?"

Twilight Sparkle shook her head, the distress on her face reflecting in her voice. "She was ready for us, Spike. All the castle guards are under Night Mare Moon's control, and they threw us in the dungeon!" Her voice rose in pitch as she spoke. "We need to get more help, she's too strong!"

"Calm down, Twilight." Spike flailed his arms at her.

"The books! The books! Have you found anything to help us?" Twilight was far from calm right now, her whole body was trembling as she frantically tore the remaining books from their shelves.

There came a knock at the door, although Twilight was too busy searching her books for answer to notice. Spike clambered over the growing pile of reference books to open the door, he peered into the darkness and leapt back as Zecora emerged from the gloom.

"Who is it, Spike?" Twilight asked, pausing a moment to glance up at the door. "Oh! Zecora!" She dashed over the books. "We need your help!"

"What is the matter, Twilight? You look like you've had a horrible fright." The zebra said as she stepped into the library, eyeing the mess strewn about on the floor.

Twilight explained what happened quickly, half her attention going to searching for something to help them.

Zecora's brow furrowed and her eyes closed a little in thought. "I do not think I can help you young filly, but we cannot go back in there all willy-nilly."

"I just wish the Princess was here to help us." Spike sighed, dragging his hand over his face.

"I know, Spike." Twilight bowed her head a moment. "We don't even know where she is, I'm afraid she was... banished. I hope the girls are okay..."

"A teleportation spell may help your friends, some help with this task I can extend." The zebra offered.

"Thanks, Zecora." Twilight offered a stressed-out smile, trotting on the spot. "Why aren't any of these books HELPFUL?!" She stomped her hooves on the ground.

"Twilight." Zecora started. "Perhaps the solution for this, is not in the books. Outside of the box, we may need to look."

"You're right." Spike exclaimed, pounding his fist into his left hand. "So... Any ideas -how-?"

Both the unicorn and zebra exchanged glances, then shook their heads. "Well, first things first. We need to rescue the girls!" Twilight started to replace the books on the shelves.

Zecora nodded. "I must go home, and make a special brew to enhance your power. But beware, it will only last for a quarter of an hour."

"That's more than enough time, thank you Zecora." The mare smiled and nodded as the zebra left the library.

Spike closed the door after she'd left, and turned to face Twilight. "So, Twi. Are you just going to... teleport in there and POOF! Teleport all of you out together?"

"That's the plan, Spike." Twilight nodded her head. "It's going to take a lot of power to do this, but if Zecora's potion works. It shouldn't take long."

"So, while your gone; do you want me to...?"

"Gather everypony at the town hall. Every single one you can find. We need the whole town on this, before it's too late."

The baby dragon nodded, and helped Twilight put away the books while they waited for Zecora to return.

"What's taking Twilight so long?" Rarity asked, pacing back and forth in the little cell. "I so hope she's alright."

"Twi'll be fine, darlin'." Applejack said from a cell over. "I'm sure she's jus' makin' a plan to bust us out."

"I sure hope so." Fluttershy said quietly, still cowering in the corner. "This dungeon is cold, and scary."

"And cramped!" Rainbow Dash kicked at the bars, pouting at them.

"It's not so bad!" Pinkie bounced. "It's like... a sleepover! In a creepy, cold, small... dungeon."

"That's what it -exactly- is. Without the sleepover part." Fluttershy replied.

"Alright Spike." Twilight closed her saddlebags, floating them into her back. "I've got the potion. You go gather everypony, and we'll meet you there. Fill them in if we're late!"

Spike nodded and followed Twilight out the door. "Good luck Twilight Sparkle!" He saluted her, chest puffed out with pride before the two went off to do their given tasks.

She only had 15 minutes to get in there, free her friends and get them all out. It shouldn't be too hard, as long as she didn't get too disoriented teleporting back and forth between the castle and Ponyville.

A flash of light illuminated the dungeon, Twilight stood at the centre as the brightness dissipated. Why was it so quiet?

"Girls?" She called, twisting about to look for her friends. The cells were empty.

"Did you really think I wouldn't notice?" Night Mare Moon loomed out from the darkest shadow, her head held high as she looked down upon the young mare.

Twilight spun around with a gasp, her ears flattening against her head. "Where are my friends?" she snorted angrily, pawing the ground. "What have you done with them?"

The dark mare wasn't bothered by her actions and merely laughed. "Why? Would you like to see them?"

iStay calm, Twilight. This is just a ploy to make you angry. It's a trap./i

"where are they?" Her right eye twitched. Oh, how angry she was inside right now.

The alicorn looked her over, malicious amusement twinkling in her eyes. "Why, waiting in the garden of course." With a dark flash, she was gone.

Twilight wasn't sure if she was lying, or telling the truth. She paced back and forth quickly, knowing she had precious little time left before Zecora's potion would run out. To go, or not to go? The cells were empty and the dungeon was quiet, but something wasn't right. Not one bit. Quickly, she made a decision and rushed up the stairs into the hallway. One she found her bearings, Twilight galloped down the empty halls and burst out through the doors into the garden.

"She wasn't lying." The unicorn said to no one in particular, her mouth open in surprise.

Indeed, Night Mare Moon had been telling the truth. The five mares iwere/i in the garden. Although they were frozen, posed; like living statues. There was no way Twilight could teleport them like this, it was far too dangerous! She raced up to Rainbow Dash who was posed rearing, her wings outstretched.

"Rainbow? Rainbow!?" She shook the pegasus but got no response.

A horridly familiar laugh floated on the breeze as Night Mare Moon flew down from where she'd been watching and landed in the shady garden. "And now, nothing, nopony can ruin my night eternal." She lowered her head and magic began to shine from her horn. Twilights eyes widened and she started to move, but was too slow. The magic slammed into her, freezing her in a dramatic pose; one hoof raised high, her chest puffed out like a showpony.

Night Mare Moon looked at her collection of meddling ponies, satisfied. Truly, no one could stop her now. She had won, forever the ponies that once shunned her beloved night time; would live in it.

Forever.

"Where -is- she?" Spike paced back and forth to the side of the podium, stroking his chin in worry. "She should be back by now!"

The mayor watched the baby dragon a moment before glancing out across the gathering of tired ponies, their coats and eyes dull. They'd been waiting for a while now, and were far too exhausted to even bother kicking up a fuss.

"Do you think, possibly... something has happened to her?" The mayor asked gently.

Spike spun around, flinging his hands around helplessly. "I don't know! Zecora's potion only lasted for 15 minutes, and it's been more than that!" His shoulders slumped. "Way more than that."

Dark clouds appeared out of seemingly nowhere, Night Mare Moon appeared in a flash on the stage. Everypony gasped in unison as the alicorn looked down at them for a moment, she cast a spell; dark swirls emanating from her horn. There was a flash of light, and on the ground in front of the stage sat Twilight Sparkle and friends in their frozen positions.

"Twilight!" Spike cried out, rushing over to her and grabbing her, shaking the unicorn's leg frantically. "Twilight!?"

"Your efforts are fruitless, little dragon." Night Mare Moon chuckled, watching Spike break into tears. "They can see, and hear; but they cannot meddle."

"Turn them back!" Spike growled at her, his claws balled into fists. "Now!"

"Or what?" The alicorn lowered her head down towards the dragon. "You will attack your new Princess?"

The young dragon made a string of unintelligible, angry sounds before he stepped back and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well. As our new Princess, you should know that soon you won't have any subjects to bully." He huffed.

"You think you can run away from -me-?" The mare snorted a laugh.

"It's not that we'll be running." The little dragon huffed. "We'll all be too tired to do anything except sleep, and we probably even die!"

Night Mare Moon laughed again. "Believe what you want, little dragon." She cast her gaze across the cowering crowd. "Subjects!" She called loudly. "Tomorrow is not a new day, tomorrow is a new night and I will watch over you all. Forever!"

Dark clouds swirled around the alicorn, spiralling upwards and dispersing. She was gone.

Panic broke out, ponies bolted madly about; pushing and shoving each other as they ran to the safety of their homes. Doors and windows were slammed shut, leaving Spike alone with the statue of his 6 friends.

He padded over to Twilight and hugged her, his face pressing against her stone figure. "Twi." He whimpered, tears rolling down his cheeks and dropping onto the statue. "Please don't be a statue any more."

There was no response from the statue, no matter how long Spike stood there. After a long time, he pulled himself away from the statues and made his way though the dark, empty streets back to the library. He kicked the door behind him with a sigh, staring at the books strewn across the floor.

"I should clean this up." He spoke to no-one in particular, starting to sort through the books. His movements were stiff, robotic as he busied himself.

What could he do? After all, he was just a baby dragon! Celestia was missing, and his 6 friends were now glorified garden ornaments. Not to mention that Equestria would never see the sun rise ever again. He sighed and shoved a book angrily into it's place, damning Night Mare Moon under his breath.

Then, it hit him.

"It's gotta work!" He dropped the book in his hand, snatched up a parchment and quill before dashing out the door.

Sleepy pegasus-messengers lifted into the dark sky a few hours later, their wings beating slowly as they headed off across the land in different directions. Night Mare Moon watched from her stolen castle, wondering what exactly her subjects were trying to do now. She paced back and forth in a main hall, deciding there was no danger. If the Elements of Harmony, as well as her own sister were powerless against her; nopony else had a ghost of a chance.

The next few days were quiet, and the dark alicorn grew somewhat comfortable in her castle. She failed to see the ponies trickling into Ponyville. The messenger-ponies as well as dozens of unicorns from all over the land. They massed inside the town hall, hidden away from the prying eyes of Night Mare Moon's guards or even the pony herself.

The unicorns from Ponyville would join the visitors for several hours at a time, and nopony was even mentioning what was going on.

On the fifth day at what used to be dusk, the doors opened and the unicorns filed out; joined by the rest of the town. They made their way silently to the town square, forming a circle around the 6 stone ponies.

Spike and the Mayor stood at the podium, the baby dragon held a yellow flag in one hand. "Okay, everypony!" He shouted. "On the count of three, all the unicorns know what to do! Everypony else, keep watch and don't let them be stopped!" He lowered the flag. "Go!"

The unicorns all began to concentrate, channelling as much power as they could muster. Pegasus' hovered in the air nearby, keeping watch on the skies as the earth ponies did the same job on the ground. It wasn't long before every unicorn's horn glowed with power, some brighter than others. Beams of light flashed into the centre of the circle, the myriad of colours illuminating the stone ponies in the centre before it shot upwards into the sky and towards the moon.

"Keep going everypony! You're doing great!" The Mayor called, shielding her eyes from the brightness.

The light stretched into the sky as the unicorns used all their energy to push it to the moon. Spike was wringing his claws nervously, his eyes moving from the group of ponies to the moon and back again.

"Come oooooon, come oooooooooooon!" He tapped his right foot nervously, biting his cheek now.

A multifaceted glow began to surround the moon, the beam wavering as those unicorns who were less talented began to run out of energy. Sweat rolled down their foreheads, down their withers and flanks as they struggled to keep going. Spike and the Mayor urged them on, all the other ponies' attention now on the bright beam of light shooting at the moon.

"What -are- you doing?!" Night Mare Moon's voice boomed suddenly, her tell-tale star-filled clouds descending on the gathered ponies.

"Keep going! Don't let her distract you!" Spike cried, waving his little flag madly to and fro.

The moon began to glow and pulse ever so slightly, the alicorn was too busy watching the grouped unicorns than the sky. "Stop that!" She yelled, her ears flattening against her head as she stomped a foot on the ground beneath her feet. Magic built from her horn and smashed into the beam of colours made by the other ponies and resulted in a large explosion.

Everypony was knocked to the ground, Night Mare Moon included. Spike scrambled back to his feet and rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear them as everypony else got back to their feet.

"Ahah! Hahaahahaha!" Night Mare Moon laughed as she stood up, tossing her head back and laughing more. "You foals! Did you think your... pathetic magic would bring her back?!"

Spike stepped forwards, calm and collected. "Together, we didn't quite have enough magic; but with your help..."

"You'll not get my help!" The alicorn spun around to face the baby dragon, a vindictive smirk on her face.

The dragon simply giggled and pointed at the centre of the unicorn circle.

As the dark pony turned back to face what Spike was looking back, she was hit with a bright single beam of light. The power was intense, and soon; Night Mare Moon was gone. Banished once again.

In her stead, beside the stone ponies stood Princess Celestia; triumphant. Spike hopped down from the podium and approached her, bowing down on one knee; everypony else following suit. The Princess flew into the air, another burst of magic leaving her horn.

As she lowered herself back to the ground, the horizon began to lighten as the sun began to rise once again and turned her attention to the group of frozen ponies beside her. She touched her horn to Twilight's and closed her eyes. Her magic spread throughout the group, causing the stone to crumble away from them; leaving them once again able to move.

The six ponies shook themselves off before pouncing on Spike. "Spike!" Twilight exclaimed. "You're a genius!"

He managed to crawl out of the group hug. "Can we just... go to sleep now? " He wavered on his feet. "Please?"

Twilight smiled brightly and nodded. "Yes, Spike. We can all go to sleep now."


End file.
